Opie and the War Hero
by KayEn78
Summary: Opie Taylor learns some valuable lessons about war and those who fought.


Opie and the War Hero

(An _Andy Griffith Show_ Fan Fiction Story)

By: Kristi N. Zanker

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognized characters, settings, etc. are the property of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Danny Thomas Enterprises, Mayberry Enterprises, and Paramount Television. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. I, in no way am associated with the owners, creators, or producers of _The Andy Griffith Show_. No copyright infringement is intended.

It was another Friday night in Mayberry. This time it was Sheriff Andy Taylor's turn to stay over since Deputy Barney Fife had left for a week's vacation in Raleigh that afternoon. It was quiet around the courthouse, which gave a lot of time to get some necessary paperwork finished. Just then, eight-year-old Opie Taylor burst through the courthouse door, clutching a plastic rifle. His friend Johnny Paul Jason was right behind him and also carried a rifle. Both were firing the weapons at one another.

"Hi, Paw!"

"Opie, this is the third time you've come in here this evening," said Andy.

"Sorry, Paw, but I was wonderin' if Johnny Paul could spend the night. I asked Aunt Bee and she told me to ask you."

"All right, I 'spose so," he said. "You both listen to Aunt Bee now."

"We will, Paw."

"What are you boys up to?" asked Andy, eyeing the plastic rifles.

"Oh, we're just playin' war." Opie replied. "Remember that movie we saw last Saturday, _The Longest Day_? We're playing that."

Andy sighed. "Please be careful with yourselves and the furniture. I don't want any casualties."

"We'll be careful." Opie said as he aimed his rifle at Johnny Paul, fired it and the boy fell onto one of the chairs.

"Ah, boys? The battlefield's that way," Andy said, as he pointed toward the door.

"Bye, Paw!" said Opie.

"Bye, Mr. Taylor!" called Johnny Paul Jason, as he followed the red-headed boy out of the courthouse.

"Okay, bye now," said Andy, as the door slammed behind them.

He could hear their rifles echoing down the street. He hoped they would be home soon. Andy felt bad for Aunt Bee though. All of that noise. Glancing over at the clock, he noticed, it was nearly eight. The boys would be up until nine and then Aunt Bee would put them to bed. He knew Otis would be coming in about eleven or so to his "home away from home."

The phone rang and after Andy picked it up, he thought he heard Juanita Beasley's voice on the other end, but he wasn't entirely sure.

"Who is this? Juanita? From the diner?" he said.

_Barney's Juanita?_ He thought. _Why was she calling? _Andy was sure Barney informed Thelma Lou and Juanita that he was going to be on vacation. He listened.

"A Mr. Yarborough is giving you trouble?" Andy asked.

Juanita went on to say that the manager was trying to calm him down and asked her to call. "Okay, I'll be there," said Andy, and he hung up the phone.

Mr. Yarborough…_Henry Yarborough_?! Andy recognized that name. He knew it from way back when he first became the sheriff of Mayberry. Henry Yarborough had been his first prisoner, besides Otis. He had been arrested for being drunk and disorderly. But that wasn't the first memory he had of Henry.

The recollections went back to Mayberry Union High. Andy had been a sophomore and Henry had dropped out of high school to fight in the war. A lot of his classmates were doing that then. But that had nothing to do with him getting arrested now.

Andy drove to the diner with the siren and light off. As soon as he reached his destination, he shook his head to clear away any more thoughts of the past. Instead, he recalled Juanita saying that Henry had had a few too many at a bar in Mt. Pilot and stumbled his way into the diner, picking fights with customers.

As he opened the door to the diner, Andy heard the sound of shattering glass. He found Henry, who was about to throw another plate across the floor, by a booth. Several customers sitting near the chaos, got up and left.

The manager came up to Andy, shouting, "That man is not welcome here! Look!" He waved his arm around in a half circle. "I've lost good customers because of him. Get rid of him, please!" The irate man turned back to peer at Henry who now leaned over the table. Andy took his arm, guided him out the door, and into the squad car.

Back at the courthouse, Andy led Henry into Cell #2. The man sat down on the cot and stared at him.

"You remember me, Henry? It's been awhile hasn't it?" Andy said.

"Yeah, I remember," he said, and he passed out.

As predicted, Otis arrived, intoxicated, at eleven. He staggered across the floor, mumbling to himself about a pink elephant, and then stopped when he saw the cell next to his was occupied.

"Oh, you've got company, Andy?" he asked.

"Sure do, Otis."

He went on and helped himself into Cell #1 by locking the door, and placing the key on the peg outside both cells.

"Andy? Andy!" called Otis.

Andy came into the courtroom, from resting in the backroom, and found Otis sitting on the cot.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Can you tell me a story tonight?"

"No, not tonight, Otis."

"Awww, come on! I can't sleep without—"

"_No!"_ Andy turned and went back into the other room.

Soon Otis fell asleep with a thunderous noise that was supposed to resemble snoring. While preparing for bed, Andy also heard both of the prisoners mumbling to themselves. He wondered if he would get any sleep tonight. He pulled the blanket over himself and tried to catch some z's.

"Will you shut up? Hey! Andy?! Andy! This guy won't shut up. I'm trying to sleep!"

"Oh, Otis!" Andy threw off the covers and came into the courtroom. He switched on the light to find Otis out of bed and Henry awake….or so he thought.

"That guy woke me up!" Otis said.

Ignoring Otis, he went over to Henry's cell and saw the man on his back with arms flying in the air and his legs moving, as if he was trying to run, but couldn't move.

"He's dreaming, Otis." said Andy.

Henry was incoherent in his speech. His face was covered with sweat. Andy stood near the cell and watched as the man twisted and turned in his sleep. It must've been some nightmare. He looked over at Otis, who just sat up in his cot with wide eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, Henry woke up.

"Is it morning yet?" he asked, sounding sober now.

"Ah no, Henry It's still the middle of the night. You were dreaming," said Andy.

"I was? Oh….I'm sorry about that, Andy. I didn't want to wake you all here. I didn't mean to do that."

"Well, that's okay. How about we all go back to sleep now?"

"Yeah," said Henry, as he laid on his back once again.

Andy heard Otis begin to snore in the next cell. He quietly walked to the backroom and tried to go back to sleep.

The clock on the wall read eight on the dot. Andy was at his desk, sifting through Henry's paperwork over the past years. He was shocked to discover that Henry had been arrested nearly sixty times for being drunk and disorderly. That was more than Otis. He hadn't always been in the Mayberry jail, but Andy had records from other places he had spent time in. Sheriff Taylor was going to have a talk with Henry with he woke up.

Just then, the door to the courthouse opened and in walked Aunt Bee, carrying a basket bulging with breakfast for the two prisoners and Andy.

"Hello, Andy!" said Aunt Bee.

"Hello, how are you this morning, Aunt Bee?" said Andy.

"Oh, I'm fine," she replied. "After Opie and Johnny Paul had breakfast, they went right outside to play war again."

"Well, you know those movies. They'll make anything look exciting. Don't worry, I'm going to have a talk with Opie later on. It's okay to play war, but he must know that it's real."

"Well, then, I'll be off. I'll bring your lunch in around noon."

"Bye, Aunt Bee!" Andy waved to her as she stepped out the door.

Nearly an hour later, all the breakfasts had been eaten. Otis was back in his cell and Henry stood by Andy's desk.

"Henry, I don't know if you realize this, but you've been arrested nearly sixty times," said Andy. "Are you trying to set a world record or something?"

"Has it been that many? I didn't think it had gotten so high."

"Yeah, boy. It's gotten up there. It's not something to be proud of. I hope you know that."

"I know that, Andy. It's just that it follows me everywhere I go."

"What follows you?" For a moment, Andy thought of Otis and his pink elephant, but he knew Henry didn't mean anything like that.

"The war."

"The war?"

"Yes, I try to forget…but I end up getting into trouble."

Suddenly, Andy had an idea.

"When your time is up, how about you come home with me. I want you to meet my son, Opie. You see, he and his friend play war. They just saw this movie and—"

"Oh, I see. I saw that movie too. They did a nice job with it. But I know the real thing. If you need me to, I can talk to your boy."

"I'd 'preciate it."

On Monday morning, around six-thirty, Andy, Henry, and Opie walked to the fishing hole. The night before, Opie asked question after question about the war to Henry. He said he wouldn't answer anything until the next morning while they were fishing.

Luckily, it had been a school holiday, so Opie was overjoyed to go fishing and meet with someone who fought in the war.

"Hey, Paw, how about we all go fishing in our boat?" asked Opie, as they reached their spot near the water.

"Well, I don't see why not," said Andy.

"You two go on in the boat, if you like. I'll just sit here by the water, if you don't mind."

Andy nodded at him and then looked over at Opie.

"Why don't you want to go in the boat with us, Henry? There's nothing to be scared of," said Opie.

"Well, I just feel safer here, son. To tell you the truth, I haven't been on a boat since the war."

The little redhead's eye lit up. "Really? Since the war! That's a long time ago!"

"Yeah, son," Henry chuckled. "It is. But at times, it feels like yesterday."

The man sat down on a bank of grass near the water.

"It does?" Opie said as he plopped right next to him.

"Sure does. Let me ask you something. Have you ever had breakfast at two-thirty in the morning?"

"No, never that early. I'm still sleepin' then."

"I haven't had breakfast that early either," said Andy. He knew where this was going. He sat down next to Opie and listened.

"Well, I did. On the big ship they gave us a gourmet meal. Only on that morning, I didn't eat much. You see, we were going to attack at six-thirty on Omaha beach at Normandy. That's on the coast of France."

"It's like in the movie I saw last week. You were in that? For real?!"

"Yes, for real."

"Gosh, that must've been really something."

"It's something I'll never forget, I'll tell you that. We were on these landing crafts and the water was so choppy. Everyone around you was sick. You see, that's why I didn't eat too much that morning. You didn't have time to think because before you knew it, the enemy was firing at you and there was nothing you could do."

"Couldn't you hide somewhere?"

"Nope, when they let those ramps down on the landing craft, the enemy still shot at you. I got off into the water and so did the other men. Now, these were guys I knew in school, my whole life. We carried so much gear on our backs, it weighed a ton. Some men went down in the water and never came back up."

Opie's face fell. Andy put his arm around him.

"How did you make it out of there without getting hurt?"

"Oh son, I got wounded, but not until later on, when I made it to the beach. It was hard wading through that water with it raining bullets and shells. The Germans didn't stop, they just kept on going. There was no place to go for cover. When you made it to the beach, you still weren't safe. Mines were planted everywhere and you had to be careful where you stepped. I've seen a lot, son. Things I wish and hope no one would ever have to see again."

Henry paused for a moment and then continued. "When you play war with your friend, you have places to go and hide. When you get hit, you can get back up again and wake up the next morning to a brand new day. You are lucky, Opie. It's okay to play war, but remember that it is real."

"He's right, son," said Andy. "I remember the war."

"You do, Paw?"

"Yeah, but I didn't fight in it like Henry did. He and guys like him helped make the world safe for young boys like you and Johnny Paul."

"Oh." Opie looked up at Henry and thought for a moment. "Henry, you said you got hurt. What happened?"

"Well, that's a little hard to explain. But I'll tell you this. I've been in trouble with the law many a time, trying to run away from the war. I was doing it the wrong way….but talking to you today, Opie, really helped me out. I'm going to do it the right way from now on. If there's still anything you want to ask me about the war, go right ahead. I'll be around."

"What do you mean, Henry?" asked Andy.

"I'm coming back to Mayberry. Going to find myself a job and stay here."

"I was hoping you'd say that. Welcome home, Henry. It's been a long time," said Andy.

The three got up and walked arm in arm down the road, fishing poles in hand. The fish would have to wait for another day.

Copyright © 2008 by Kristi N. Zanker


End file.
